DAVAR ACHER: Bringing the Glory of God into the World By: Rabbi Denise L. Eger

The priests' clothes—especially those worn by the High Priest Aaron—were more than just the special uniforms donned during the sacred service. These were holy instruments of God. The great Nachmanides points to this in his commentary and draws our attention to the words l'chavod ul'tifaret ,"dignity and adornment"(see Ramban [Nachmanides] on Exodus 28:2).

Nachmanides links these words to the mystical realm, indicating that kavod , "glory," and tiferet, " splendor" or "beauty" (which have the same Hebrew roots as chavod and tifaret , respectively) are associated with hod ,"majesty." Kavod , tiferet , and hod are among the kabbalistic system's ten s'firot, which can mean"stages of emanation"or "attributes" of God (see Encyclopaedia Judaica , vol. 10 [Jerusalem: Keter Publishing House, 1996], p. 566). Nachmanides writes that the priestly garments are to be made so that Aaron can"minister in them to the Glory of God who dwells in their midst, and to the Splendor of their strength."

Therefore, the garments of the High Priest themselves are not merely adornment but sacred vessels that help channel the glory and majesty of God from the heavenly realm to the earthly realm so they can transform the world and all of us.

Among the s'firot , kavod is the honor, glory, and dignity of God that relates to the aspect of hod ,the eighth emanation on the tree of the s'firot. Hod is associated with the feet, bringing a person to the place where she or he can actualize mitzvot in the world.

Tiferet lies in the middle of the kabbalistic tree, and most of the s'firot are connected to this one. Tiferet means "beauty" and "glory" and is the aspect of God that helps human beings bring about the greatest potential of a person by synthesizing and connecting the other aspects of the Divine.

Medieval mystics understood that bringing God into our daily lives and bringing these divine aspects into the earthly realm would help transform our world and the way we act in it.
In the blessing recited after the reading of the haftarah on Shabbat, we also see these words l'chavod ul'tifaret. We say,"For the Torah, for the privilege of worship, for the prophets, and for this Shabbat that You, Adonai our God, have given us for holiness and rest, for honor [dignity] and glory. . . ."This helps us link the words of the prophets, who translated their visions from God for the people, telling them the ways they ought to act. We recite these words to help us remember to actualize the visions of prophets, such as Isaiah, Amos, and Hosea.

Thus the sacral vestments of T'tzaveh were more than adornment. The High Priest in his glorious uniform reminded the people that God wants us to act with righteousness, justice, and holiness in the world. Although today we have no garments of the High Priest to help us bring these divine and mystical aspects into the world, as we read these words of Torah and as we read the haftarah and the blessing each week l'chavod ul'tifaret , "with dignity and adornment," we are reminded that our actions, the mitzvot we perform, and the ethics by which we live bring God's presence into the world and into our lives.

Posted by Jimmy at March 3, 2009 09:21 AM